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Top 10 Website Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make

The digital marketing landscape is evolving, as businesses big and small increase their budgets and resources for web design. Content is an essential component of web design, and it typically delivers a higher return on investment (ROI) when compared to traditional marketing channels.

Once content is published and circulated, it will continue to attract views while increasing brand exposure. But if you’re planning to use content to help grow your business, you’ll want to avoid making the following mistakes.

1) Writing a Wall of Text

Notice how this article you are reading is broken up into small sections separated by sub-headings? You should follow a similar approach when creating text content instead of making a wall of text.

According to a study conducted by Jakob Nielsen, people read only 20% of the text on a page. Contrary to popular belief, the human brain doesn’t read each word on a page. Rather, the brain scans sections while automatically looking for breaks like subheadings, bold text, italicized text, images, etc. Failure to break up your content into easy-to-digest sections such as this discourages users from digesting your content, making it less effective at helping you achieve your marketing goals.

2) Quantity Over Quality

Another content marketing mistake to avoid is focusing on quantity over quality. Some marketers assume it’s better to publish 10 low-quality articles than a single piece of high quality. In the past, this may have been true, but search engines now prioritize pages with high-quality content.

In 2011, Google released the Panda algorithm update to lower the search rankings of thin and low-quality websites. Affecting nearly 12% of all Google searches, this was one of the largest updates in the history of Google. Following the release of Panda, webmasters who published low-quality content saw their rankings drop, while their counterparts who posted high-quality content saw their rankings increase.

3) Overlooking the Audience

Not everyone is going to be interested in reading your content — and that’s OK. However, you should create content tailored specifically to users who are interested in it. They are your content’s target audience or “buyer persona,” and it’s important to create a strong connection with them.

If you’re writing a blog post about cloud computing, for instance, you should keep it formal and technical, whereas a blog post about home decorating should be informal and casual.

Another helpful tip for connecting with your target audience is to include relevant lingo or jargon. If you’re writing a health article, for instance, you may use the term “cheech” when referring to the process of ordering numerous tests to try and diagnose an otherwise complicated illness or disease. There’s unique lingo for nearly every industry, so include it in your content marketing efforts.

4) Not Enough Evergreen Content

What is evergreen content and why do you need it? This content category is like the eponymous trees. Unlike their deciduous counterparts, evergreens are always green, regardless of the season. Evergreen content takes a similar approach by remaining relevant, with users always seeking to read or otherwise consume it, which is what makes it so useful and popular.

On the other hand, time-sensitive content is only relevant for a given period. An article about the latest Apple iPhone, for instance, is considered time-sensitive, in which case it will offer a limited, finite amount of views. But publishing an article about cybersecurity practices for mobile devices is seen as evergreen.

After publishing new content on your website, cross-promote it on social media networks like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. You don’t have to run the entire article, but rather publish an excerpt along with a link to your web page. You can also cross-promote your content in email, blog posts, YouTube videos and elsewhere.

6) Only Creating Text Content

Don’t limit yourself to only creating articles, blog posts, and other written content. While text can be effective at connecting with your target audience and achieving your marketing goals, there are other formats on which to publish content, including infographics, videos, slideshows, podcasts, online courses, live streams, PDF files, case studies, and photo galleries.

Some marketers may argue that video is even more powerful than text content. According to TechCrunch, YouTube now receives more than 1.5 billion visits every month. With video, you can convey your marketing message in a smaller and more compact format.

7) Not Defining Goals and Objectives

For what reasons are you using content marketing? For it to succeed, you need to define your goals and objectives first. Maybe you want to improve your website’s search rankings, or perhaps you are trying to attract customers and drive sales.

Keep in mind that you can have multiple goals and objectives for content marketing. If generating sales is your primary aim, increasing brand exposure may be a secondary goal. In this case, you should reinforce your brand by mentioning it several times throughout your content.

8) Not Updating Content

Just because you hit the “publish” button on your website or blog doesn’t necessarily mean you are finished. Even if it’s evergreen, you may still need to go back and update it with new information.

Proofreading your old, existing content may reveal a typo that you initially missed, in which case you can fix it. Alternatively, you may need to update statistics with newer data. Making subtle updates to your content such as this shows search engines that you are a leader in your niche.

9) Insufficient Keyword Research

An effective content marketing strategy should center around the right keywords. Unfortunately, keyword research is something that many marketers disregard. If you don’t know which keywords have high search volume and low competition, however, you won’t be able to produce effective content.

10) Not Analyzing Metrics

If you don’t know how your content is performing, you won’t be able to optimize it properly. Depending on the type of content, you may already know basic metrics like sales or conversions. However, other metrics can improve your content marketing campaign, including average time spent on page, number of unique visitors, number of returning visitors, search rankings, social shares, inbound links, and bounce rate.

By avoiding these mistakes, you’ll create better content that aligns with the interests of your target audience.